Popular entertainer Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) yesterday offered a humble public apology for a gaffe he made on his variety show that has outraged the nation's Muslim community.
Wu caused a public outcry last month when he said that Muslims did not eat pork because the prophet Mohammed had once drunk pig's milk.
He apologized the following week on air, but his mea culpa was deemed "insincere" by Taiwan's Muslim community, which numbers between 50,000 and 60,000.
"Wu's comments were ignorant and they hurt the feelings of Muslims and insulted our religion," said Salahuding Chao-yen Ma (馬超彥), chairman of the Taipei Grand Mosque.
Yesterday, a solemn-faced Wu bowed deeply before the cameras, saying: "I gave my deepest apology to Muslim friends."
Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV), which airs Wu's show, also promised to run a formal apology in major newspapers.
"We extend our deepest apology to the Muslim community for the host's ignorance and lack of knowledge about the religion," said TTV acting program manager Wang Li-chen (王莉貞).
"We would from now on endeavor to promote understanding of Islam and other faiths," he said.
Muslims flooded TTV's Web site with complaints following Wu's comments, and some even protested outside the station on Tuesday.
"TTV can use this issue as an opportunity to educate the public and spread information about the correct concepts of Islam," Ma said.
Taiwan's diverse society has some 19 different major faiths, though Buddhism and Taoism are the pre-dominant ones, with 4 million to 5 million believers each.
There are about 600,000 Christians and nearly 300,000 Catholics in Taiwan.
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